News (USA)

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois House Executive Committee has scheduled a hearing for next Tuesday to consider the marriage equality bill approved last week by the state Senate.

FARMERSBURG, Ind. — An Indiana high school teacher whose comment that she believes gays have no purpose in life has been suspended amid tighter security at her school.

WASHINGTON — A District of Columbia council member on Tuesday introduced a bill that would ease the requirements of transgender D.C. residents seeking to legally change their gender on birth certificates and other legal documents.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is quietly considering urging the Supreme Court to overturn California’s ban on gay marriage, a step that would mark a political victory for advocates of same-sex unions and a deepening commitment by President Barack Obama to rights for gay couples.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rico’s Supreme Court has narrowly voted to uphold a law banning gay couples from adopting children.

The Respect for Marriage Coalition on Wednesday launched a national advertising campaign featuring prominent bipartisan leaders – including President Barack Obama, Former Vice President Dick Cheney, Former First Lady Laura Bush, and Former Secretary of Defense Colin Powell – speaking out in support of marriage for gay and lesbian Americans.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Republican state senator who supports legalizing same-sex marriage in Minnesota said Wednesday that he hopes to convince GOP colleagues to join him in abandoning the party’s traditional stand on the issue.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The nation’s largest Protestant group is calling on members of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America to uphold a ban on gay leaders and Scouts when it votes in May.

A California state Senator on Tuesday introduced legislation that would remove the state’s tax exempt status for any youth group — including the Boy Scouts of America — that bans members on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity

CHICAGO — The results of a Crain’s/Ipsos Illinois Poll released this week found that 50 percent of the state’s adult residents support the same-sex marriage bill currently making its way through the Illinois state legislature.